Tag: words

(Fairly) New in the Dictionary

Those late 19th and early 20th century elixirs had all sort of funky stuff in them.

I was clearing out some old newspapers when I came across the continuation of a story from August about words being added to the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, which I meant to write about at the time. Does that ever happen to you? Here’s the article.

Shown below are some of the words, along with a few thoughts about them. The years indicate first documented use.

aha moment
– n (1939) a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension

Surprised this didn’t make it sooner.

brain cramp
– n (1982): an instance of temporary mental confusion resulting in an error or lapse of judgment

There are some variations on this term that may be more popular.

bucket list
– n (2006): a list of things that one has not done before but wants to do before dying

I was really shocked this was so recent since they’ve made a 2007 movie with this title; check out this website of things you should do before “kicking the bucket”

cloud computing
– n (2006): the practice of storing regularly used computer data on multiple servers that can be accessed through the Internet

I still don’t understand how this work, even though I have some music stored there

copernicium
– n (2009): a short-lived artificially produced radioactive element that has 112 protons

When they say short-lived, they are not kidding. I think it was measured in nanoseconds. Can this be a real element?

craft beer
– n (1986): a specialty beer produced in limited quantities: MICROBREW

I’ve also heard the term artisan used.

earworm
– n (1802) 1: CORN EARWORM 2: a song or melody that keeps repeating in one’s mind

I assume the second usage is a lot more recent.

energy drink
– n (1904): a usually carbonated beverage that typically contains caffeine and other ingredients (as taurine and ginseng) intended to increase the drinker’s energy

Those late 19th and early 20th-century elixirs had all sorts of funky stuff in them.

e-reader
– n (1999): a handheld electronic device designed to be used for reading e-books and similar material

Maybe someday, I’ll have one…

f-bomb
– n (1988): … used metaphorically as a euphemism

Such a delicately described definition!

flexitarian*
– n (1998): one whose normally meatless diet occasionally includes meat or fish

I’ve seen the term, but I’ve never heard anyone actually say it.

game changer
– n (1993): a newly introduced element or factor that changes an existing situation or activity in a significant way

It’s such an obvious sports metaphor, I figured it would be much older.

gassed*
– adj (1919) … 2 slang: drained of energy: SPENT, EXHAUSTED

A certain irony that being gassed and being out of gas have similar meanings.

gastropub
– n (1996): a pub, bar, or tavern that also offers meals of high quality

Never heard anyone ever say this either.

geocaching*
– n (2000): a game in which players are given the geographical coordinates of a cache of items which they search for with a GPS device

This is something I would do, if I had the time. And the right equipment.

life coach
– n (1986): an advisor who helps people make decisions, set and reach goals, or deal with problems

I probably need one.

man cave
– n (1992): a room or space (as in a basement) designed according to the taste of the man of the house to be used as his personal area for hobbies and leisure activities

There was a big to-do in the Albany area when the man cave of a pair of state workers was discovered.

mash-up
– n (1859): something created by combining elements from two or more sources

I assume the original meaning was about liquor. The current definition, regarding music or video, wasn’t broadly technologically available for that long.

obesogenic*
– adj (1986): promoting excessive weight gain: producing obesity

I’ve never seen or heard of this word.

sexting
– n (2007): the sending of sexually explicit messages or images by cell phone

Something that I hope I don’t have to explain to my daughter.

shovel-ready*
– adj (1998): of a construction project or site: ready for the start of work

Very popular after the government stimulus program.

systemic risk*
– n (1982): the risk that the failure of one financial institution (as a bank) could cause other interconnected institutions to fail and harm the economy as a whole

The SOBs.

tipping point*
– n (1959): the critical point in a situation, process, or system beyond which a significant and often unstoppable effect or change takes place

This always reminded me of a seesaw.

toxic*
– adj (1664) … 4: relating to or being an asset that has lost so much value that it cannot be sold on the market

The SOBs, part 2.

underwater*
– adj (1672) … 3: having, relating to, or being a mortgage loan for which more is owed than the property securing the loan is worth

I’ve known so many people in this situation in the past three years.
***
14 wonderful words with no English equivalent.

 

*Not shown in the newspaper article.

The WORD Section

I wonder if automatic spellcheck is to blame.

From Salon: Your words matter -New science shows brains are wired to respond to certain kinds of speech. This was revealing.

Cursed Cursive. As I told GayProf, “First marking period, third grade, I actually DID receive a D in handwriting; I was careful enough thereafter to get it up to a C.”

This seemingly mundane correction from Canada’s Hamilton Spectator:
“In the June 16 edition, the name of Hamilton waterfront restaurant Sarcoa was misspelled. The Spectator regrets the error.
“No, it’s not great for a new restaurant to have its name misspelled in the local paper. But even worse is the mistaken name offered by the paper.”
I wonder if automatic spellcheck is to blame.

The “word” on Richard Dawson, who has died at the age of 79, is that he set out to be Peter Sellers or Jack Lemmon and was frustrated that he wound up being Bill Cullen. But this is a lovely story.

Dustbury’s #OccupyGrammar – Word Up

*Arthur sometimes has trouble Finding the Words. Then again, I don’t always know HWAT he’s saying.

*Mark Evanier tells The Olaf Story, and also notes that “Forever” Doesn’t Mean Forever

A couple songs, both from groups with a member who has died recently:
The Bee Gees- Words (Robin Gibb) and The Monkees – Words (Davy Jones)

P is for Portmanteau

One of the more unfortunate trends in portmanteau is called name-meshing.


A portmanteau word is a word that’s made up of 2 other words; for instance, motel from motor hotel, smog from smoke and fog, brunch between breakfast and lunch, chortle from chuckle and snort, malware from malicious software, or the previously mentioned gerrymander. Here are more portmanteau words.

From JEOPARDY! in 2001: “Lewis Carroll coined the term ‘portmanteau word’, explaining how “slithy” combines these 2 words.”

The question was slimy and lithe, which I didn’t get, and neither did any of the show’s contestants. Here are some easier ones from November 2011; questions at the end:

This 9-letter word for a procession of cars is often used to refer to that of the U.S. president
It’s the trademark name for the device used by police to measure a driver’s alcohol intake
It’s the code of online social behavior
It’s the smallest element of an image on a computer monitor
*This word refers to the visible path in the wake of an aircraft

As Wikipedia notes, “A portmanteau word typically combines both sounds and meanings.” It defines the word Wikipedia as a portmanteau, since “it combines the word ‘wiki’ with the word ‘encyclopedia’.”

Lots of place names are portmanteau words: Texarkana on the Texas-Arkansas border; Tanzania is the joining of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, e.g.

It seems that portmanteaux are becoming more popular:
Chief ACTA Eurocrat quits in disgust at lack of democratic fundamentals in global copyright treaty – Eurocrat from European bureaucrat
Fracktivists from hydrofracking (itself a portmanteau) and activists.
Mutterance – from muttering utterance

There are even portmanteau generators out there. The roots of a good portmanteau should be clear, even if it’s newly minted.

One of the more unfortunate trends in portmanteau is called name-meshing, which comes when two famous people’s names get merged, such as Billary (Bill and Hillary Clinton), Brangelina (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) or TomKat (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes). As often as not, the newer combos are lost on me.

The questions to those JEOPARDY! answers. What are: motorcade, Breathalyzer, netiquette, pixel, contrail.

ABC Wednesday – Round 10

Words QUESTION

There ARE a few words that I can specifically remember learning, and not just as a child, that I have regularly incorporated into my vocabulary.

The wallpaper is beginning to peel in our bedroom, probably because of a leak, now fixed by the new roof we got this summer. It’s always something with a house that’s about a century old. I said to The Wife, “This house is giving me agita.” She thought I had made up the word; I had not.

Agita (n) – a feeling of agitation or anxiety. “Judging by its spelling and meaning, you might think that ‘agita’ is simply a shortened version of ‘agitation,’ but that’s not the case. Both ‘agitation’ and the verb ‘agitate’ derive from Latin ‘agere’ (‘to drive’). ‘Agita,’ which first appeared in American English in the early 1980s, comes from a dialectical pronunciation of the Italian word ‘acido,’ meaning ‘heartburn’ or ‘acid,’ from Latin ‘acidus.’ (‘Agita’ is also occasionally used in English with the meaning ‘heartburn.’) For a while the word’s usage was limited to New York City and surrounding regions, but the word became more widespread in the mid-90s.”

So the Wife says, “Where did you learn that word?” I reply, “How the heck do I know?!”

But it got me to thinking that there ARE a few words that I can specifically remember learning, and not just as a child, that I have regularly incorporated into my vocabulary.

Ersatz (adj)- being a usually artificial and inferior substitute or imitation. I learned this from a book about recordings by the Beatles, both as a group and as solo artists, that I read in the late 1970s. The writer referred to Ringo’s Goodnight Vienna LP as an “ersatz Beatles album.” All four Fabs appear, albeit not together, on the album.

Penultimate (adj) -next to the last. I was reading a black and white comic called Elfquest in the early 1980s, and in issue 19, co-creator Richard Pini noted that it was the penultimate issue. I’ve used the word a lot ever since.

Are there any words you picked up from reading as an adult that you didn’t know before but have integrated into your vocabulary?

In honor, two versions of the song Words by the Monkees.
TV show version
singles version

I Can’t SAY That Word QUESTION

There are a number of words I could say, but never having seen them in print, I was shocked to find that they were spelled THAT way.


There was a 1980 hit song by a group called the Barracudas called Summer Fun, from an album I happen to own; in fact, a mail-order customer at FantaCo sent it to me in gratitude. The introduction to the song comes from an ad c. 1967; the storyline was that a Plymouth car dealer couldn’t say the word Barracuda, problematic because the hot Plymouth car that year was supposedly the Barracuda. (The whole ad can be heard, after the 27-second mark, here.

What reminded me of this was the fact that I was working on a reference question last month and realized I could not say the word ‘aesthetician’, though I can say the root word ‘aesthetic’; it’s the two middle syllables. Arthur noted on a podcast that he cannot say ‘vitiligo’, a condition I have.

On the other hand, some words that I just LOVE to say. They tend to be French or Italian, and often end in a vowel, such as Rigoletto or Giovanni. But last month at work, I was really getting off saying the Japanese word ‘yakitori’, which means skewered chicken.

Also, there are a number of words I could say, but never having seen them in print, I was shocked to find that they were spelled THAT way. Two that come to mind are ‘epitome’ or ‘facetious’.

What words do you have difficulty pronouncing?
What words do you love pronouncing?
What words surprised you by how they were spelled?

 

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